Personal sports writing archive of Blake Murphy.

Vulnerability and advocacy as much a part of DeMar DeRozan’s Raptors legacy as any on-court accomplishment

Title: Vulnerability and advocacy as much a part of DeMar DeRozan’s Raptors legacy as any on-court accomplishmentDate: February 22, 2019Original Source:The AthleticSynopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I wrote about DeMar DeRozan’s return to Toronto and how the legacy he’s creating off the court is as important as the one he’s established on it.

Had​ things gone differently this​ summer​ or in any of​ the five postseasons that​​ preceded it, a tweet may have come to define the greatest Toronto Raptors era. A franchise that has celebrated division titles with banners, with a little more success, may very well of adorned Scotiabank Arena or at least the team’s training centre with DeMar DeRozan’s famous words. In a tweet far before he became as much, DeRozan laid out exactly why he’d become if not the best Raptor ever, the franchise’s most beloved.

As things played out, DeRozan eventually – probably painfully – unpinned his most iconic words to date, a simple phrase sent out to a recovering Toronto basketball community still seeking identity, success and a star to call their own. He was the one who wanted to stay, the one who embraced being the long-term face of the franchise, the one who believed in the city as much as it chose to believe in him.

The ending of the relationship has been shrouded in acrimony. DeRozan’s lasting legacy has not. And while his standing among Raptor greats on the court will be debated for years, particularly if another superstar opts to follow in his footsteps (or lack thereof) and stay or if the team reaches heights they did not under his stewardship, his place among the sports’ most important voices is unlikely to be diminished. Because for as much as “Don’t worry, I got us…” defined DeRozan as a player, it was another tweet and DeRozan’s handling of it afterward that has come to define DeRozan as a person.